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22:21 - 22.10.08
Work force
Well, maybe I wasn't so paranoid, dear diary. Since I last posted, I haven't been able to gain access to the internet at all. Virus of some description attacking the registry. That said, my son finally got his computer working. I don't understand that since we share the same connection. Hmmmm.

Spent the past week working in that bedroom community about 11 miles to the north of our city. The days warmed up considerably, but it resulted in three days of increasing migraines, partly due to the changes in weather. By Thursday I was seeing colours that don't normally exist and other people's aurae. Couldn't see the bar codes to scan though. On Thursday, when we were supposed to be picked up to go home, we were told we wouldn't be allowed to leave the van unless we went to another count and stayed until the end. Word from head office in Toronto. We hadn't had the opportunity to have a full lunch break and we were told we wouldn't be allowed one where we were going either. Now, we have a computerized schedule and we signify our consent to attend assignments electronically. I hadn't been asked about nor consented to another assignment that day. I wasn't about to sit in the van in the parking lot - without even a lunch, like some naughty child as directed by the Who Ha's out east - because the scheduling for that assignment hadn't been successful. I have come in to work on unscheduled days - days off - when there was a need. However, I couldn't even see because of the pain in my head, so I wasn't going to be useful anyway. I finally said I would consent under protest, but that I would be following up with a formal complaint. Not very nice, but I'm not some pawn on a chess board to be sacrificed at the whim of the company. The driver saw how much discomfort I was in and agreed to drop me at a train station. Missed Friday's count as well because of the migraine that was extended in length by the added stress.

Sunday was another count out past the airport. An eight hour shift - as described in our schedules - in order to verify data collected the day before. Only five crew assigned. As it turned out, we didn't leave until twelve and a half hours later, but it wasn't what one would call a strenuous exercise. When we arrived, breakfast was on offer - Timmy's coffee and doughnuts. There was a problem with the software that meant we couldn't even begin our work until nearly three in the pm. From eight am to three pm we discussed books and movies, as well as workplace stories. Oh yes and Enron. A+ and I had watched "Enron - The Smartest Guys in the Room" as well as "Fahrenheit 9-11" the day before. Some of the other counters had seen parts of that duo as well. That discussion slid into political issues of the day, as two other counters from another assignment arrived around noon with a second computer in an attempt to deal with the software glitch. The financial meltdown you see. We didn't solve any of the political issues nor the software one either, sadly. The company we were counting for brought in subs for us, as well as their employees - way more than even very physically active staff could eat.

When we began to count it didn't last more than two hours, then it was back to waiting as the computer analysis of the data was undertaken. Painfully slow it was. As the hours passed, we talked about our families and our experiences in other jobs, as well as the values we held that drove our responses or choices. A lot of pacing. One of the crew is a body builder, so she did her warm ups. I thought about the yoga I wanted to do. The session the day before had left my body hungry for more, you see. At dinner time there was dinner on offer - take out from a local Chinese restaurant. And we were in to overtime pay for our hours by then. I wish I had had the foresight to bring a book, but it wasn't a bad day at all. I had another incident where I was asked if I was from a certain Asian country by one of the women from the host company. My skin is really a pasty white, but long black hair in a ponytail and a uniform that isn't far off what those women often wear might create that illusion. I couldn't really respond too much to the asker, since I only spoke English and she was still learning that. Smiles always seem to smooth things over though.

This week we are working a community away from my home, so that life has been a little slower paced. Time for bed now though. Good night dear diary.

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